Creativity Rules: How Rules Impact Player Creativity in Three Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Karl Bergström's study examines how rules systems shape players' perceived creativity in tabletop role-playing games, a question the author notes has lacked any formal measure, so the research relies instead on players' own accounts of their experiences. Drawing on interviews, group discussions, and observation with six Nordic player groups, the work compares three systems that sit at different points on the rules spectrum: Dungeons & Dragons 3.5/Pathfinder, which is rules-heavy and combat-focused; World of Darkness, which is diceless and narration-first; and Legends of Anglerre, a rules-light FATE-based game. The geographic scope is therefore narrow, limited to Nordic players, and the author acknowledges possible confounding from settings, presentation, and respondent bias.

Respondents were divided on whether rules enable or stifle creativity. Complexity in systems like D&D was often seen as a barrier for newcomers even as it supplied structure that players found useful. The study identifies recurring functions rules perform in the creative process, including acting as arbitrator, creative coolant, consistency-provider, communicator, inspiration source, and source of randomness. The central conclusion is that the relationship between rules and creativity is complex: openness of a system does not map straightforwardly onto the quality of creative output.

The analysis distinguishes six flavors of creativity (narrative, acting, gaming, problem-solving, game-world, and system creativity) and traces how rules shape each. The most consequential mechanism is diegetic control, the degree to which rules govern what happens inside the fiction, alongside consistency and randomness. System creativity emerges largely as a fixing activity, in which players adapt existing rules rather than introducing new ones. Creativity also turns out to be one of several sources of enjoyment, and groups seldom discuss their play preferences with one another, a finding that suggests unspoken differences in expectations.

Across the three systems, the study concludes that nWoD groups enjoyed relaxed diegetic control, which favored acting and narrative creativity over gaming creativity, while system creativity appeared mainly as pre-game adaptation. The work positions itself as a resource for TRPG scholars, designers, and players, grounded in secondary literature on role-playing game theory and design.